Cost of Marijuana

During the early 1980s, the cost of marijuana ranged from $350 to $600 a pound. In the first six months of 1996, the cost of one pound of marijuana ranged from $200 to $4,000, though it typically sold for $800 a pound. Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). It is the most abused illegal drug in this country. All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs and they all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. There are about 400 chemicals in a cannabis plant, but THC is the one chemical that affects the brain the most.

The cost of marijuana, specifically sinsemilla, the unpollinated flowering tops of the female plant with an inherently higher THC content, ranged from $1,000 to $2,000 per pound over a decade ago. Through mid-1996, the cost of marijuana ranged from $700 to $8,000 per pound, though the sale price typically did not fall below $1,300 per pound.

The cost of marijuana per pound varies considerably, depending on consumer proximity to the Mexican border and quantity purchased. From the mid-1990s to the present, prices for commercial-grade Mexican marijuana remained relatively stable. There are many different names for marijuana. Slang terms for drugs change quickly, and they vary from one part of the country to another. They may even differ across sections of a large city. There are also street names for different strains or "brands" of marijuana, such as "Texas tea," "Maui wowie," and "Chronic." A recent book of American slang lists more than 200 terms for various kinds of marijuana.

On average, marijuana can be purchased in Mexico for approximately between $100 and $200 per kilogram. In DEA Field Divisions along the U.S. Southwest Border, Mexican marijuana sells for approximately between $400 and $1,000 per pound. In Border District Offices, the cost is even lower; the McAllen, Texas, office reports wholesale cost of marijuana from $150 to $300 per pound.

In the Midwest and Northeast, the average cost of marijuana increases to $700 - $2,000 per pound. Using low-end figures, 500 pounds of marijuana can be purchased in Juarez, Mexico for $50,000 and sold in St. Louis, Missouri, for $400,000. As marijuana is purchased closer to the cultivation sites in Mexico and sold to U.S. consumers at greater distances from the U.S. Southwest Border, the profit margin increases significantly.

In 1998, Americans spent $66 billion on these drugs. $11 billion of it was on marijuana. Between 1989 and 1998, expenditure on marijuana increased slightly (as marijuana prices increased) then decreased slightly (as marijuana prices fell).

The cost of marijuana fluctuates greatly showing wide variation by country of origin. Using wholesale costs per pound and mid-1991 costs, the cost of marijuana of Mexican origin varied between $350 and $1600. For Colombian marijuana, this figure was $800 to $1,000 and for marijuana from Thailand, the cost of marijuana ranged from $2,000 to $3,000 per pound. Jamaican marijuana brought $1,500 to $2,000 per pound for commercial grade and $2,000-$3,000 for sinsemilla. It is estimated that United States consumers of marijuana spent $9 billion in 1990.

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Marijuana Facts

Marijuana has been used since ancient times. While field hands and working people have often smoked the raw plant, aristocrats historically prefer hashish made from the cured flowers of the plant. It was not seen as a problem until a calculated disinformation campaign was launched in the 1930s, and the first American laws against using it were passed.

In 1937, with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act, the United States effectively banned recreational and medicinal use of cannabis. Many nations followed suit and in 1961, through the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, fifty-four nations agreed to "adopt such measures as may be necessary to prevent the misuse of, and illicit traffic in the leaves of the cannabis plant." Despite such restrictive control, cannabis has become the most widely used illicit drug in the western world.

To the best of our knowledge, no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. In technical jargon, marijuana has no level of acute toxicity. But this doesn’t mean its safe. There is still the possibility of slamming your car into a lamppost while stoned or getting a joint that is laced.

Research shows that marijuana is addictive. Believe it or not, each year, more young adults enter drug treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependency than for all other illicit drugs combined. One recent study found that when abstaining from marijuana for just three days, regular users experienced withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, drug cravings, anger, irritability, and aggression.

Far more young people use marijuana than any other drug, even with the rise in prescription drug abuse. Among young people who use drugs, approximately 60% use marijuana only.

Smoking one joint is equal to smoking five cigarettes — smoking four joints is like smoking an entire pack. Because marijuana smokers tend to take longer, deeper drags and hold smoke in their lungs for longer, they end up with three to five times more tar and carbon monoxide in their bodies. Plus, marijuana is usually smoked unfiltered (in joints, blunts, bongs, and pipes) and burns at a higher temperature, which is more damaging to the lungs.

Marijuana is even riskier today because so much of the marijuana on the market is grown indoors and bred for specific qualities, like potency. This means that most of the marijuana that students smoke today is much stronger than it was for their parents’ generation. The average THC level rose from less than 1% in the late 1970s to more than 7% in 2001.

A mild hallucinogen, marijuana has some of alcohol’s depressant and disinhibiting properties. User reaction, however, is heavily influenced by expectations and past experience, and many first-time users feel nothing at all.